Black Panther: The Coming of Klaw

Published Sep 29, 2017
By Josh Weiss

T’Challa’s greatest enemy makes his return in time for Marvel Legacy!

Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and artist Leonard Kirk explore King T’Challa’s long history in BLACK PANTHER #166, a Marvel Legacy title, which brings a classic Panther villain back into the Wakandan picture: Ulysses Klaw. As it turns out, many things have gone awry in the ancient African country, making it the perfect time for the iconic baddie to show up now.

“Klaw sees an opportunity,” editor Wil Moss tells us. “Wakanda is in chaos because their gods—the Orisha—have disappeared, and the gods who ruled Wakanda before the Orisha—known as the Originators—have now returned and are violently reclaiming their country.

“So while Black Panther, his sister Shuri, and Storm are struggling with this literal spiritual crisis, Klaw seizes this opportunity to get something he needs from Wakanda that will allow him to take his abilities to a new level—an almost God-like level…”

Fantastic Four (1961) #56

While he made his first super-powered appearance in August of 1996’s FANTASTIC FOUR #56—the son of a Nazi war criminal who later had a sonic emitter attached to his right hand—Klaw remains a Black Panther villain through and through. This came about when the ne’er-do-well murdered T’Challa’s father, King T’Chaka, after they butted heads over Wakanda’s vibranium deposits. Naturally, the king’s son wanted revenge and a rivalry for the ages emerged.

“I think in part it’s that Klaw represents the danger, the threat that Black Panther must always protect the people of Wakanda from,” theorizes Moss. “From the first time he and T’Challa crossed paths, back when he was just Ulysses Klaue and he killed T’Challa’s father and then T’Challa in turn destroyed Klaue’s hand, beginning his transformation into Klaw, he’s represented every outside force that’s ever tried to conquer or steal from or destroy or exploit Wakanda and its resources and achievements. And if you look at him that way, then there are a ton of different ways to play him—and Ta-Nehisi has sure come up with a great one for this arc.”

Encounter Klaw on October 25 in BLACK PANTHER #166 from Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leonard Kirk!

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Marvel Two-In-One: Running in the Family

Published Sep 29, 2017
By Tim Stevens

Chip Zdarsky charts the course as Ben and Johnny reunite!

The bond of family can’t be broken easily.

Since Secret Wars, Johnny “The Human Torch” Storm and Ben “The Thing” Grimm have largely been working alone. They have, at times, teamed up with others, thrown their lot in with different super hero teams—but in terms of their true family, they’ve been isolated for a long time.

Zdarsky stepped away from organizing this family reunion to answer a few questions about the upcoming story.

Marvel.com: How does it feel to be the first writer to handle the first step towards—maybe—rebuilding the Fantastic Four post-Secret Wars? Has it been a tremendous honor? A horrifying burden? A bit of both?

Chip Zdarsky: It’s strange. There’s definitely some fear on my part. FANTASTIC FOUR has always been a book that means a lot to me, and to a lot of other people, so getting to even do a close approximation of it with Ben and Johnny feels very daunting. Dealing with that Secret Wars fallout has been something everyone’s looking for, so, yeah, I’m a bit nervous.

But, that being said, no script I’ve ever worked on has come together as smoothly as issue #1 [of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE]. Getting into the heads of Ben and Johnny—knowing what they have to do—just clicked right away. So, I’m nervous, yeah. But strangely calm about it because it feels right to me as a writer.

Marvel.com: What can you tell us about Johnny’s problems at the beginning of this story? Why does The Human Torch need The Thing?

Chip Zdarsky: Both Ben and Johnny have been bouncing around to various teams and situations since Secret Wars, rarely seeing each other. It reminds them too much of what they’ve lost. But that pain bubbles up, especially in Johnny, and Ben has to step in to help his family, and—whether he knows it or not—himself.

Marvel.com: In MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, you handle (at least) three icons of the Marvel Universe: Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and Doctor Doom. In your eyes, what’s the key to getting each one “right”?

Chip Zdarsky: Ben and Johnny can be played for laughs, but they’re both deeper than they let on. To get them right you have to be conscious of writing a Ben and Johnny story—not just a Thing and Human Torch one. Ben can be a bit of a hardened tough-guy, but he’s a softie. Johnny can be slightly irresponsible, but he cares deeply.

Doom seems especially interesting to write now, given what [writer] Brian Michael Bendis and [artist] Alex Maleev have been doing with him in INFAMOUS IRON MAN. He’s still a thorn in the sides of our heroes, but now with the ultimate goal of doing what he feels might just be “right.”

Marvel.com: Describe the tone and setting of TWO-IN-ONE. Can fans expect any special supporting cast?

Chip Zdarsky: The tone feels a little bit sad, a little bit tortured, and a little bit fun! We’re building up to some big adventures for the guys, and this will be the place where you’ll get to see a lot of FF supporting cast and villains pop up! As for setting, these are explorers, so the setting will always change.

Marvel.com: How does working with Jim Cheung help you “build” the world of the book? Does he make it easier for you to do certain things as a writer?

Chip Zdarsky: He’s…amazing. Getting pages from Jim just blows my mind. He elevates every scene, nails the emotion of the characters, and there’s no other artist working today who gets The Thing like he does.

Marvel.com: Speaking directly to fans who might consider snagging TWO-IN-ONE, how would you convince them that this is a can’t-miss?

Chip Zdarsky: Besides Jim Cheung!? I think, out of the books I’ve worked on so far, this feels the most like a classic Marvel book. Moral quandaries, big adventure, fun conflict. And it’s Ben and Johnny! They’re the heart of the Marvel Universe in a lot of ways, so I hope everyone enjoys seeing them together, going on adventures again.

Listing Deadpool’s most immoral moments ever ahead of Marvel Legacy!

Wade has been trying to play the hero—with limited success—for far too long. Now he breaks bad again, Deadpool style.

“It’s hard to blame Wade for the events that precipitated Secret Empire. He got all the credit for the bad things he did, and none of the props for the decent stuff,” explains Duggan, “Wade had done so much wrong before he ever heard Cap say the words ‘Hail Hydra’ that once he did he was already stuck on his side. Now his life has burned down. Sad!”

To prepare for this wicked road trip, we took time to highlight some of Deadpool’s more questionable stops in his recent history…“Like that time he uppercutted Kitty,” suggests Duggan. And with that, we’re off!

Weirdo zombie presidents attempt to take over the world, so S.H.I.E.L.D. decides to send Deadpool to hunt them down in an attempt to avoid the PR nightmare of, say, Captain America publically beating down our beloved former leaders.

In this issue, he finds Teddy Roosevelt doing what he does—big game hunting in the treacherous wilds of the Los Angeles Zoo—and…long story short, Deadpool sets a live elephant on fire. In his defense he did warn the elephant first! Sort of!

The demon Ventis hires—cough, blackmails, cough—Deadpool into killing people on his behalf. Wade gets hot on the trail of a victim when he runs into the devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

The two don’t exactly see eye-to-eye and Daredevil succeeds in hogtying the Regenerating Degenerate. However, he makes the mistake of thinking that Deadpool plays by the rules (tisk-tisk, Matt!), allowing Wade to up and shoot a random guy on the street to escape. Solid distraction but dang, that’s cold.

Less hurting-random-people-and-animals and more standard bad parenting for this one. Madcap wants Wade to suffer and threatens to kill his daughter, Ellie, to make it so. In response, Wade beats him to the punch and deliberately uses his daughter like chum in the water to bait Madcap into the open. Luckily, Quicksilver manages to get Ellie out of harm’s way at the last moment.

Come on, Wade. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with a morally-ambiguous, violence-desensitized kid on your hands. Break the cycle, dude!

Let’s just breeze right over this one; we all remember DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE. You can’t forget the crazed mercenary shooting Spidey in the face, making it rain hero chunks after blowing up the Avengers Mansion, and of course, the piéce de résistance, turning Beast into a fur cape.

Oh and of course there’s DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE AGAIN (2017)—because if there’s one thing Deadpool excels at, it’s beating a dead horse…or just dead bodies of any kind, really.

With everyone in the Marvel Universe six feet under, Deadpool branches out into new fictional timelines to find new victims in DEADPOOL KILLUSTRATED. With the help of his enslaved mad scientist core, Wade finds a way into some of our favorite storylines to do what he does best: murder everything that moves. I guess he gets points for not discriminating? His victims include Moby Dick, Tom Sawyer, Dracula, “The Jungle Book” animals, the Three Musketeers, and basically every other literary character you ever read about in school. English teachers, avert thine eyes!

Deadpool keeps a blind old woman as a prisoner! But that’s not all! After finding an opportune moment to escape, the woman—named Blind Al—runs away to Maine to hide out with a friend named Tommy, in the belief that Wade won’t be able to track her there. But after a 3,000 mile journey, Blind Al arrives at Tommy’s house only to find Wade waiting inside with a mutilated Tommy—a next level psychopath ploy to ensure that Al stays with him of her own accord.

And people call this guy a hero!?

Find out what depraved deeds Deadpool adds to his list of indiscretions in DESPICABLE DEADPOOL #288, by writer Gerry Duggan and artist Scott Koblish, on October 25!

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Head to Head: An America Sketchbook

Artist Joe Quinones pits the star against Exterminatrix!

She’s faced The Demiurge, teamed up with Galactus, started life at a new college—but America Chavez faces her biggest challenge yet in AMERICA #8!

On October 25, writer Gabby Rivera and artist Joe Quinones bring our hero face-to-face with The Exterminatrix for Marvel Legacy! America will need everyone at her side—not least Grandma Madrimar—as the super villain goes on a warpath.

We spoke with Quinones about his continued relationship with America, making homages in his art, and working with Gabby Rivera.

Marvel.com: How has your relationship with America Chavez changed as you’ve drawn her more?

Joe Quinones: Like any character, the more time I’ve spent drawing America, the more I understand her. Drawing her becomes second nature and I start to get a real handle on her body language and personality. It’s important to have that through line, given that her outfits constantly change. I love drawing her.

Marvel.com: Were you able to put your own spin on The Exterminatrix and her minions when preparing for this issue?

Joe Quinones: Absolutely. I had my own take on [artist] Russell Dauterman’s designs for her from THE MIGHTY THOR, with some design suggestions from AMERICA‘s own [artist] Ming Doyle. I wanted to add a little more color into her outfit with the two-tone cape and to open up her face mask a bit so we could see her mouth. Ming suggested the kiss mark eye holes and I loved the idea.

Marvel.com: Apparently, you’ve managed to incorporate a family pet into the Marvel Universe…

Joe Quinones: Yes! I felt inspired by my tenure on HOWARD THE DUCK, where [writer] Chip Zdarsky and I incorporated my real life cat, Biggs, into the story. Here we have a cameo by my sister’s dog, Charlie—an energetic little pug-chihuahua. I can’t say it has a huge influence on storytelling, it’s just a fun connection for me to enshrine these two animals I love in the comics I’m drawing.

Marvel.com: How has it been working with the AMERICA crew on this series?

Joe Quinones: Everyone has been so nice and supportive of each other since the start. I finally got to meet Gabby a month ago and she was a ball of energy and ideas. [Editors] Wil Moss and Sarah Brunstad have kept the train running and have a keen understanding of the voice of the book.

Marvel.com: Readers might notice a nice Norman Rockwell nod in this issue. Do you come up with those references or do they appear in the script?

Joe Quinones: Yes, indeed. I nod to Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom of Speech” painting in this issue. I also referenced his “Freedom of Worship” piece for the cover to issue #10. I thought it appropriate as America tries to stand up and speak truth to power in this scene. It didn’t appear in the script, but I feel like borrowing from these iconic pieces helps speak to the heart of the book—we are immigrants and people of color. We are Americans. We are free and here to stay.

Snag the final product in AMERICA #8, by writer Gabby Rivera and artist Joe Quinones, on October 25!

We snagged a few minutes with Ryan to hear some more about Squirrel Girl’s next big journey.

Marvel.com: What can you tease about the Legacy storyline?

Ryan North: This storyline will be about Squirrel Girl’s legacy…which of course means we shoot her into space. So unlike most other Marvel Legacy arcs, where the characters go to where they began, we’re sending Doreen to someplace she’s never been before.

The story centers around Squirrel Girl and Galactus—and the ripple effects their friendship has had. Since they’ve met, the world’s gone through a lot of changes: Galactus is a good guy now and creates planets, for example. But he’s still (dare I say it) hated and feared by large parts of the universe. So the relationship between these two—a cosmic being older than the universe itself and a second-year computer science student—will be at the heart of this new story, but in a fun and pretty surprising way. I discovered that we’ve come up with an angle that hasn’t happened before in Marvel—and that’s a rare pleasure!

Marvel.com: What were your inspirations heading into this new arc?

Ryan North: I actually pitched three different stories to [Editors] Wil [Moss] and Sarah [Brunstad] and one of them ended up being, “Uh…maybe she goes into space?” And from such small seeds, a story emerged.

We shot back and forth some ideas, because Marvel space has all these cosmic chFaracters that you don’t normally get to see. It felt good that our run started with her meeting Galactus—for a Legacy storyline, going back out to space and seeing what effect a regular squirrel woman from Earth defeating Galactus has had on the universe made a lot of sense…and seemed like a lot of fun.

Marvel.com: Legacy explores the history of the Marvel Universe—what does Legacy mean for Doreen, who’s the only Squirrel Girl there’s ever been?

Ryan North: For me as a writer, it presents a chance to tell the most-Squirrel Girl story we can, you know? But for Doreen as a character, it feels like her dealing with the consequences of what she’s already done; she’s dealing with her legacy moving forward, as we all do. We don’t get to decide how history judges us, and we can sometimes only barely influence how our actions get perceived, but we can decide who we want to be.

This story will be about Squirrel Girl dealing with some…let’s say “unexpected consequences.” In fact, let’s say “unexpected and entertaining and hilarious consequences.” Because that’s just what they are.

Marvel.com: What does the legacy of Marvel mean to you—as a writer and as a fan?

Ryan North: For a lot of the older characters, Legacy will be about respecting what’s come before while still building on it and enhancing it. Erica and I didn’t create Doreen Green—she dates back to the ‘90s, when she made her first and (in most other timelines) only appearance under [writers] Will Murray and Steve Ditko. But we did bring back Will to write a new story for her in our special “Squirrel Girl 25th anniversary” story (issue #16!) at the start of this year. That, for me, served as a real picture of Squirrel Girl’s legacy: where she started, where she finds herself now, and where she’s going next.

Squirrel Girl stands in kind of a unique place now—Erica and [colorist] Rico Renzi and I have been working on telling her stories for over 30 issues now, plus an OGN (Original Graphic Novel), so for us, her legacy will be whatever comes next. And I can’t wait to share that with everyone!

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U.S.Avengers: Out of a Cannon

Published Sep 26, 2017
By Tim Stevens

Writer Al Ewing leads the team on a Marvel Legacy search for a lost comrade!

Sam Guthrie died. Everyone saw it. Everyone knows it.

Except…what if he didn’t?

On October 25, A.I.M. finds itself pondering that very question at the start of U.S.AVENGERS #11! Marvel Legacy dawns as writer Al Ewing and artist Paco Diaz assemble the team to find Cannonball on the vaguely nostalgic—yet wholly original—planet on which he finds himself.

We spoke with Ewing to see where the team has been, where they go now, and why Richie Redwood should not be messed with.

Marvel.com: How do we find the U.S.Avengers in the wake of Secret Empire’s upheaval?

Al Ewing: Well, in the wake of the Hydra takeover of the country, the U.S.Avengers feel badly damaged—Red Hulk’s developed some serious health problems after being ‘hacked’ by Hydra science, Dr. Toni Ho has given up her role as The Iron Patriot, and Cannonball has gone missing…and presumed dead. Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t possess the power it once did, and that’s left A.I.M.’s status as a S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliate up in the air—which in turn led to unscrupulous government scumbag Kevin Krask making a play to become the power behind the scenes.

Roberto headed him off by giving up his Supreme Leader status—passing the leadership of A.I.M. to Toni—but that’s made him some powerful enemies and left A.I.M. and the U.S.Avengers adrift in the super spy community. And that’s when Smasher, the Shi’ar Superguardian—and Cannonball’s other half—dropped the bombshell that Sam Guthrie may not be dead after all.

Marvel.com: Issue #10 reveals that, despite everything, Cannonball remains alive. How does this affect each member of the team?

Al Ewing: This won’t be quite the last mission for the U.S.Avengers, but it does feel like it. Roberto, obviously, would travel to the ends of the universe—literally—to rescue Sam, and he won’t let anything like, say, giant 1920s gangster robots stand in his way.

But he won’t be the only one going along for this particular rescue mission; the whole team has a bond of friendship with Sam. Even the General, who reveals himself as the big softy we always suspected he was—and also reveals himself as someone who might be addicted to the power of becoming a Red Hulk, even if every transformation puts more strain on his increasingly damaged body.

Meanwhile, the search for Sam will be Toni’s first mission as head of A.I.M.—and she leads by example—but without the Iron Patriot armor, what does she bring to the table? We’ll find out.

Marvel.com: And what about Sam? How’s he doing lost out there in the big universe?

Al Ewing: Sam has no idea what’s going on, at first. Oddly, he feels fully at home in the alien worlds of outer space; it’s the strangely Earth-like atmosphere of Glenbrook that confuses him. He’s got enough of the old super hero instincts to investigate for a while. At the same time, he has a home and a family he needs to get back to; he only has so much patience for this nonsense. But when he decides to take his leave, will Glenbrook let him go?

Marvel.com: What can you tell readers about Glenbrook, U.S.A.?

Al Ewing: You’ve never seen anywhere like Glenbrook, U.S.A.! You’ve never seen any typical teenager like Ritchie Redwood, or his love interests Becky and Vanessa, or rival Gerry Mays, or his teacher Mr. Waspwind. Or Bugface Brown, who we don’t like to talk about any more, after…what happened.

Bugface Brown acted as a dangerous subversive, you see, and he had to be dealt with. All the filthy subversives must be dealt with. But let’s not talk about that, ha ha! Because talking about that would break character. And if you break character, Ritchie Redwood gets annoyed.

You don’t want that.

Marvel.com: How did Paco Diaz help to realize Glenbrook? Any further homages beyond the excellent cover by David Nakayama?

Al Ewing: Paco Diaz has a wonderfully lush line that looks great for the perfect ‘50s/’60s world of Glenbrook and for the outer-space craziness of the Shi’ar. I’m particularly fond of his command of expression—he’s got a great way with faces, and always nails the emotional beats. I’m also a big fan of his Roberto; Paco adds an extra dollop of suave sophistication to A.I.M.’s ex-leader that I always dig.

And yes, we can expect homages—and not just to classic teenage comics either. Fans of the X-Men will get some interesting surprises in these pages.

Marvel.com: What can fans expect from the team going forward? How does the team adapt to a new world after their Secret Empire experience?

Al Ewing: In some ways, we’re coming out of a rough patch into a brief burst of wild and wooly hilarity, a final fun-times adventure before…well, that would be telling.

But the Marvel Universe won’t give the U.S.Avengers much time to adjust to their new status quo. They’re going into the crucible, and they’re going to prove themselves once and for all—even if they end up with a memorial statue for their troubles. We’re coming up to the ultimate do-or-die battle, a fight for the fate of the entire world…and there’ll be no surrender.

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Weapon X Heads Towards Marvel Legacy and the Arrival of Nuke

Published Sep 25, 2017
By Jim Beard

Greg Pak on Weapon X's history and new threats to come.

Since its inception, the new WEAPON X title’s been cutting a bloody swath through a few of the darker corners of the Marvel Universe. Luckily, it boasts veteran comics scribe Greg Pak at its helm to guide it not only into the future, but to keep it grounded in the rich history of its characters and concepts.

We spoke to Greg about what’s to come in WEAPON X, as the book enters the Marvel Legacy era.

Marvel.com: Greg, as a Marvel writer, what does the word legacy mean to you personally? How much of it informs what you do on your books and most especially this one?

Greg Pak: From the time I first started writing for Marvel thirteen years ago, I’ve tried to approach each new project involving legacy characters with a mix of awe and fearlessness. Awe, because these are tremendous characters that have survived and thrived for decades and mean so much to their fans. And fearlessness, because in order to tell new stories that anyone gives a damn about, I have to dive into the thick of it, figure out what fresh take I bring to the table, take big risks, and try to tell a story that matters.

In practical terms, that means I’m always trying to get to the core of the character, trying to figure out the essence of what makes that character work. And at the same time, I’m trying to come up with new circumstances and angles and themes to take the character somewhere exciting. So legacy to me means respecting the origins, core, and history of the character—and striving to build on it to tell new stories that fans can dig their teeth into.

Weapon X (2017) #9

Marvel.com: Within the narrative itself, is there a sense of legacy at the Weapon X program? What weight does history carry there?

Greg Pak: The Weapon X program’s legacy is a history of horror, vivisection, zealotry, and sadism. It’s also an institution that’s changed hands a number of times as different villains have taken charge. So I don’t think within the actual Weapon X program there’s much of a sense of company pride, so to speak. Each new director is just using the tools and resources of the program to further his or her own ends.

What I’m saying is, these aren’t very good people!

On the other hand, among the victims and subjects of the Weapon X program, there can be a shared allegiance based on their similar experiences. At the end of our last arc, Logan’s team in the WEAPON X book defeated Stryker’s Weapon X program—and then took the Weapon X name for themselves. So that’s a kind of new legacy they’re claiming.

Marvel.com: Likewise with our heroes: how do Logan and Sabretooth view the concept of legacy? And then Warpath and Domino—what about them?

Greg Pak: Logan and Sabretooth are two of the oldest mutants running around out there, and probably the oldest memory they share is their mutual hatred of each other. So maybe you could say that their sense of legacy on this team is tied up with this eternal conflict they share—which maybe means they both know they’re destined to tear each other apart some day again. But I don’t know if they really think in terms of “legacy” at all. They’ve both seen hundreds of friends and enemies die; they’re each nearly immortal and nearly unkillable. They’re haunted by their pasts, but I think that for their own sanity, they mostly live moment-to-moment, with Logan just trying to do the right thing through whatever means necessary at any given moment and Sabretooth just doing whatever feels good at any given moment.

Similarly, I don’t know if legacy means a ton to Domino, either. She’s got her own weird and tragic past, but she’s made a life for herself as a happy-go-lucky merc. She’s generally going to stick up for the underdog when push comes to shove, but she doesn’t have a grand plan of legacy building or anything like that. That’s one of the things that makes her interesting in the team, of course—she’s unpredictable, like most of the team’s members, which is key to the ongoing tension and drama in the group.

Warpath is a bit different, though. I think he’s very conscious of family and history—his most traumatic life experience was the murder of most of his family in Camp Verde. I think he feels a huge amount of responsibility to his family and tribe and to his extended family of mutants. At some point that bigger sense of responsibility and legacy will probably put him into conflict with other members of the team.

Marvel.com: Now, as a non-mutant, what holds Lady Deathstrike together with our leads? What’s her prime motivation in the book?

Greg Pak: Lady Deathstrike suffered similar mutilations and experimentation as Logan and Sabretooth and she was an early victim of Stryker’s new Weapon X, so when it came time to take him on, she was happy to team up with everyone else. She’s continued to stick with the team as they’ve taken on new challenges, but it’s an open question how long she’ll stay with the team or exactly what her true motivations are. Let’s not forget, it wasn’t too long ago that she was a straight-up villain and one of Wolverine’s and Domino’s worst enemies.

Marvel.com: Indeed. So, beyond all that, what getting you most jazzed about this book as you move forward?

Greg Pak: In our next storyline, we’re diving into the incredible mythology of Nuke, the patriotic superhero first introduced by Miller and Mazzucchelli in DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN. DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN was one of three or four books that pulled me back into comics when I was in college. It’s just phenomenally good storytelling and Nuke is such a tremendous character, so this new arc is a dream-come-true. The icing on the cake is that the great Yildiray Cinar is drawing, and he’s just a total pleasure to work with. Can’t wait ’til we can show it to you!

Marvel.com: Any hints at something specifically cool coming up? Some more big surprises?

Greg Pak: A big turning point in all of our characters’ relationships within the team is coming, and with big, big repercussions. Keep on reading!

Read More

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Luke Cage: Begin Again

Published Sep 25, 2017
By Josh Weiss

Writer David F. Walker takes Luke back to his roots for Marvel Legacy!

Once upon a time, Carl Lucas got thrown into jail for a crime he didn’t commit and emerged as Luke Cage, the humbled Hero for Hire. Now, courtesy of writer David F. Walker and artist Guillermo Sanna, he’s going back in.

On October 18, Marvel Legacy begins with a trip back to the crucible that forged this future Avenger in LUKE CAGE #166! The “Caged” story arc catches Luke out of his element, at a low point in his life—and stuck in a prison he can’t escape with his fists.

We sat down with Walker to hear more about heading back to the character’s iconic roots.

Marvel.com: What can you tell us about Luke getting chucked back into prison—and the threats both inside and outside those walls?

David Walker: Well, when Marvel first announced the whole Legacy initiative and we were discussing it, we talked about bringing some of these very iconic characters back to their core and their essence. And to me, it was pretty simple—why don’t we take Luke Cage back to where he started when we first met him back in 1972? Let’s put him back in prison.

And then it became a question of getting him there. What might he be in prison for? How do you keep him in prison when he’s got super strength? We reverse engineered a certain amount. To a certain extent, this storyline that we’re doing could almost be a retelling of his origin in a weird sort of way. So then our questions were: who’s our villain going to be? Who will be his allies? And how will this story take Luke to someplace new?

For me, as a writer, there’s no point of tackling something if you don’t have the opportunity to try to get the character to someplace new—some realization about themselves that they never had.

Marvel.com: Unlike the first time he found himself in jail, Luke heads inside as an established hero. How will this new stint in jail affect him?

David Walker: That’s a really good question and it’s loaded with potential spoilers…but there are some obstacles that keep him from being the Luke Cage we know and love; that keep him from being Luke Cage that he knows he can be, if that makes sense.

A lot of it will be about him rediscovering himself and, in the process, older readers and old school fans will hopefully appreciate the trials and tribulations we’re putting him through. And new fans will jump on to see a guy really going through, essentially, discovery.

Marvel.com: You touched on this, but Luke has his powers now…so what’s stopping him form just breaking out of jail?

David Walker: Ahh, now there’s a big spoiler right there.

There will be obstacles—he’ll face a lot of obstacles and that ended up being one of the tricky things we had to try to figure out: how do you keep him from just busting out? We didn’t want it to be the standard “special prison” that has like, you know, some sort of de-powering ray gun or something like that. But how he’s kept locked up, why he’s locked up, all that stuff becomes interconnected and a lot of it gets revealed within the first issue of the arc. Then we build upon that and then it becomes about overcoming these things that are keeping him trapped.

A lot of it becomes a metaphor for the way all of us can become trapped in circumstances that may be beyond our control and seek to define us in ways that are not accurate or truthful to who we actually are.

Marvel.com: Being behind bars has always been crucial to the Luke Cage legacy because it helped transform Carl Lucas into the hero for hire. Since this kicks off Marvel Legacy, how did you want to explore the character’s history?

David Walker: I’ve been doing a lot of whispering to my editors that I’d love to do a “Luke Cage: Year One” sort of story.

In the original series, back in the ‘70s, the time he spent in prison covered, I think, one or two issues. He didn’t spend a lot of time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. They would recall that a lot—though they didn’t spend a lot of time showing him there. We’re spending a fair amount of time showing him in this place where he actually doesn’t have the control that he thinks he has or that he’s used to having—and that’s the part of the exploitation of the character.

I really wanted to use this opportunity to tell a story that explored not just Luke Cage at his core, but who Carl Lucas at his core—because a lot of people sort of forget that before he was Luke Cage, he was Carl Lucas. What exists deep down inside? What makes him the hero that he is? That’s part of what I wanted to get into in a way—now he’s in prison with a lot of history and a lot of experience, so who Luke now feels very different than Luke then.

I don’t know if that answers the question or not. I’m worried about dropping spoilers because it seems like this whole story arc is full of spoilers.

Marvel.com: Can you talk about how you went about writing the overall narrative—and perhaps offer a few teasers about what we can expect as the “Caged” storyline begins?

David Walker: There will be more than one cliffhanger. Issues #166-#169 just keep getting worse for Luke. Issue #166 ends pretty bad, #167 feels like, “Oh, I didn’t know it could get any worse,” and then it just keeps getting worse, and worse, and worse for poor Mr. Cage.

Writing it turned into a question of finding the right beats. The first beat, in terms of cliffhanger endings, will be Luke in a situation where he’s unaware and he doesn’t know what’s going on. The second one ups the danger level and will be like, “OK, now we’re going into uncharted territory. And then life and death territory.” We’ll turn up the tension with every single issue.

LUKE CAGE #166, by David F. Walker and artist Guillermo Sanna, hits on October 18!

We caught up with Tom to hear more about the Marvel Legacy beginning of a complex new partnership for Laura and her long-lost “brother.”

Marvel.com: Catch us up on what’s been going on in the wonderful world of Wolverine!

Tom Taylor: At the moment, we’re just coming back from space—Laura, Gabby, and Jonathan have been off with the Guardians of the Galaxy. They dealt with a massive threat there and now they’re coming back to Earth in the hope of finding some normalcy in their new residence on Roosevelt Island. But—of course—we’re going to be turning their world upside-down.

Something very bad happens. Daken will be taken…but a piece of him will also be found.

Marvel.com: Oh no.

Tom Taylor: Yeah, right!? That will start Laura on a very big journey which will involve her past, her present, and her future. There will be an intensity in our Legacy arc that we haven’t seen before. By the end of the first issue of our Orphans of X run, everybody will want to pick this book up.

Marvel.com: Just to recap, it wasn’t so long ago that Daken and Laura were—literally—at each other’s throats. Where do we find their relationship now?

Tom Taylor: Daken and Laura are actually quite close. We saw it in Marjorie Liu’s run and we saw it in the recent Immune arc where Daken comes—not to help Roosevelt Island in the middle of their horrible infestation—but to help Laura. Daken doesn’t get close to a lot of people. But he does respect Laura and I think that becomes quite clear.

We are playing with them as brother and sister and I think that comes through in all of Orphans of X, but in the beginning of Orphans of X, Daken gets taken prisoner (I can’t say by who yet!) and Laura has to deal with that. But it feels quite traumatic, and this will be one of the most intense arcs we’ve ever done.

Marvel.com: It seems so cool to go back to Laura’s roots with Legacy—to see her challenged in such a personal way.

Tom Taylor: She’s a fantastic character—she has an incredibly traumatic past but she’s not a victim. Particularly after everything she went through in Enemy of the State arc, she has really come through it and become a hell of a hero—as I hope we saw on the moon with the hive…like, she just went to an alien moon, took on the Brood, and she saved an entire island of people! She kicks ass in every way.

Marvel.com: Generally speaking, what does the legacy of Marvel Comics mean to you?

Tom Taylor: I’m a fanboy and I always have been. I’m a fan of these great characters. And when Marvel calls you up and says, “Hey Tom, do you want to write Iron Man?” you absolutely lose it! You just do! It feels insane. Like, this stuff just doesn’t happen. My first gig in American comics was writing Star Wars. And it’s just like…you’re kidding me. You want me to write Luke and Han and Leia? What!? I’m a guy from Melbourne, Australia. This just doesn’t happen.

I think we were talking about something else with Marvel at one stage and then they were like, actually, would you like to do Wolverine? What person in the world would say no to that!? Of course I want to do Wolverine! I’ve been reading Wolverine comics my whole life, I have shelves of them—yes I want in on this. I love Laura, ever since I saw her in “X-Men: Evolution”!

It’s just exciting to be on all of this and—I think I can say this—I’ve just been offered a new project for Marvel and it’s exactly the same. I have a very packed schedule but I just thought, you know what, I’m going to immediately drop everything I’m doing to jump onto this and make it as good as I possibly can; it couldn’t be more exciting to do another incredible Marvel property and to try to do my best at it.

Marvel.com: That’s so exciting! So Legacy must be a treat to work on.

Tom Taylor: Yeah—and we’re seeing things like going back the Muramasa Blade here, which has been a huge part of Logan’s past and what that came to mean. And now that his children have to deal with that will be a really big thing. That’s the kind of Legacy thing that we’re seeing in this, and I have to say that the artwork by Juann Cabal and [colorist] Nolan Woodard together looks like nothing you’ve ever seen. The three of us are just jamming so well! We’re adding extra beats everywhere and it’s amazing to be working with these talented guys.

Greg Pak introduces Marvel Legacy with a return to Planet Hulk!

Marvel Legacy begins with “Return to Planet Hulk: Part One,” as the young genius goes where another Hulk has gone before—Bruce Banner. But the planet Sakaar has changed since the Doctor visited years ago. And Amadeus finds himself in unfamiliar territory—on the continent of Filia, halfway around the globe from where The Hulk landed before. Thrust into a conflict he didn’t expect, The Totally Awesome Hulk will have to use every ounce of his intellect and power to survive.

We grabbed a few minutes with Greg Pak to see what’s in store for Amadeus on Planet Hulk.

Marvel.com: Amadeus Cho has learned a lot about himself and his Hulk persona recently. How does this new self-awareness influence his experience on Sakaar?

Greg Pak: Amadeus started off as the Hulk a couple years ago with this big, loopy idea that he could be the best Hulk ever; he never saw being the Hulk as a curse. He doesn’t think of himself as a tortured soul like Banner. He figured he’d become the Hulk and show the world how awesome the Hulk could be. But over the last few storylines, Amadeus has come closer and closer to the darkness within himself. To be specific, he’s got a Dark Hulk inside that’s fighting to get out—and he’s terrified of what he’ll become if that happens.

So as this new storyline begins, Amadeus gets pulled into the brutal world of Sakaar at the absolute worst time—when he’s trying to suppress the brutal monster within.

Marvel.com: How does Amadeus find himself on Sakaar?

Greg Pak: The story took place in TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #23, which just hit stands, so I don’t want to spoil it too much. I’ll just say that Amadeus ends up deciding he’s too dangerous for planet Earth in his current state, so he exiles himself to try to figure out what’s going on with this Dark Hulk inside. But then he gets a signal from Sakaar—someone desperately needs help from The Hulk. And he’s still that cocky kid who thinks he’s going to be the best Hulk ever, so he can’t stop himself from responding.

Marvel.com: You’ve said before that we’ll see a different side of Sakaar—literally—in this story. What new friends and foes will Amadeus find in his time there?

Greg Pak: During the original PLANET HULK story, the Hulk fought the evil Red King of Imperia, freed the slaves and gladiators he’d oppressed, and united the different people of the continent in a new alliance. (Whoops! Spoiler alert!)

This time ’round, Amadeus lands on a different continent on Sakaar—the land of Fillia, which had been at war with the Red King. So you’d think the Fillians would be happy that The Hulk took out the Red King…but once The Hulk disappeared, a thousand new murderers arose in the chaos and now Fillia’s a blasted wasteland where a terrible warlord hunts small clans for sport. One of these clans has put out a call for The Hulk—and they’ve gotten Amadeus.

So we’ll meet a stalwart headman, a scrappy insectivore hiver, an eerie priestess, a manic lackey, and a brutal warlord. It’s a big, epic battle-axes-and-blasters sci-fi fantasy, and you’re going to love it.

Marvel.com: Should we expect to see familiar faces from the original PLANET HULK story?

Greg Pak: Since we’re on the other side of the planet, we won’t see exact characters from the original PLANET HULK. But this fits right into all that worldbuilding we did for PLANET HULK, so you’ll see folks from the various species we established during that story. And you’ll see a disturbing perversion of the myths and legends we introduced there too.

You’ll see a Marvel hero you might have wished appeared in the original PLANET HULK. I’ll say no more, but definitely don’t miss issues #711 and #712!

I’d also like to plug the gorgeous work of Greg Land, inker Jay Leisten, and colorist Frank Darmata. They’re taking the original designs and worldbuilding for PLANET HULK and putting their own spin on them in this new part of the world—it’s just gorgeous stuff.

Marvel.com: What has been most exciting about this return to Sakaar?

Greg Pak: I absolutely loved working on PLANET HULK back in the day. It remains one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had making comics, and I’m thrilled to have a chance to dig back into that world whenever the opportunity presents itself. With this particular story, it’s a kick throwing Amadeus into the mix, because he was famously one of the few heroes crazy enough to side with the Hulk during WORLD WAR HULK. So there’s a bit of a comeuppance here—a chance to see how Amadeus handles the kind of brutal world that the Banner Hulk endured. There’s a lot of delicious and scary stuff to dig in with that kind of set up, and I’m having a blast.

I should also note that if you’re digging this vibe, please do check out the “Planet Hulk” prose novel that hits stores on October 4! I got pulled on board to write it last year, and if you dug the original PLANET HULK, I think you’re going to love the prose novel. We got a chance to dig a lot deeper into all kinds of aspects of the story and try some surprising new things. Check it out!